Sphagnum-Inspired Multi-Chamber Layered Aerogel Scaffolds for Portable Photothermal Energy Storage With Tunable Heat Dissipation

Abstract

Portable phase-change composite (PCC) materials with rapid heat storage and leakage suppression capabilities are crucial for heating supply and temperature regulation under complex environmental conditions; however, their development remains challenging. Inspired by the serial multi-chamber water-retention architecture of Sphagnum, a polyimide/MXene/etched zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 phase-change energy storage composite platform (sPMZ) was designed. The biomimetic hierarchical porous architecture, featuring aligned microcavities and nanopores, generated multiscale capillary forces that effectively suppress phase-change material leakage, enabling a paraffin loading of 85.3% while maintaining structural integrity over repeated thermal charging-discharging cycles. The incorporation of the biomimetic architecture increased the specific surface area of the sPMZ platform by 1198%, enhanced the thermal conductivity of the resulting PCC prepared by paraffin impregnation into sPMZ by 43.7%, and delivered a melting enthalpy of 119.5 J·g⁻¹ with a relative enthalpy efficiency of 94.6%. In addition, the photothermal conversion efficiency attained 90.7%. Through photothermal conversion measurements, practical irradiation assessments, and integrated control of energy storage and heat dissipation, the feasibility and tunability of the Sphagnum-inspired strategy were validated, paving the way for developing portable thermal storage devices with rapid heat charging and suppressed leakage.

Keywords

biomimetic architecture / hierarchical microstructure / MXene / phase-change composites / photothermal conversion / thermal energy storage

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